Persephone (Proserpine)

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Persephone (Proserpine)

Poor Persephone—this girl really got the short end of the stick. Sure, she's the beautiful daughter of Demeter, goddess of agriculture, and Zeus, king of the gods. But she's also very unhappily married to Hades, king of the Underworld, who kidnapped her and forced her to be his queen. Demeter threw a total fit about her daughter's abduction and in protest, she made it so nothing would grow on Earth. Things got so bad that Zeus stepped in, and a compromise was reached. Now, Persephone is allowed to return to her mother for part of the year. When she's with Demeter, flowers bloom and crops are plentiful. But when Persephone heads back down to the Underworld, Demeter won't let anything grow. And that, dear Shmoopers, is why we have the seasons.

P.S. Like her mother, Persephone was a chief goddess of the Eleusinian Mysteries—a cult which celebrated the cycle of death and rebirth—and promised its initiates a blessed afterlife.

Basic Information

Name

Persephone (Proserpine)

Nickname

Proserpina, Despoina, Core, Kore, Flower Child

Sex

Female

Current city

The Underworld (most of the time)

Work & Education

Occupation

Queen of the Underworld, Goddess of Spring General Duties: (Unwillingly) ruling the Underworld at Hades' side

Education

Demeter's School of Frolicking and Flower Picking (valedictorian) Hades' School of Soul Herding (last in the class)